Contact NCC
News Service: 212-870-2228 | E-mail mailto:pjenks@ncccusa.org
| Most Recent
Stories | NCC Home
On Election Eve, Top U.S. Christian Leaders Meet with President Obama, Speak for Americans Who Are Struggling
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE PBS' Religion & Ethics post-meeting coverage CONTACT: Kristin Williams, Faith in Public Life, 202.459.8625, kwilliams@faithinpubliclife.org
National Council of Churches and Church World Service Urge Focus on Common
Good, Fighting Hunger and Poverty Washington, November 1, 2010 -- Prominent American Christian leaders met today with President Obama to speak for the millions of Americans struggling to find jobs, make their next rent or mortgage payment, and put food on the table.
Leaders with
both the National Council of Churches
and the global humanitarian
“As the economic downturn
has battered the middle class, it has been even more devastating to those
already living on the economic margins of society,” said
Rev. Peg Chemberlin, the
president of the National Council of
Churches, which represents 45 million people and 100,000
congregations in the
As political campaign
rhetoric has descended into fear-mongering and divisiveness in the past few
months, these leaders also spoke in a unified voice to inject civility and
hope back into the public dialogue. The delegation emphasized the need to
work together towards the common good and the power of churches to lead and
break down walls of division across the world.
“Without
regard to the election the following day, our faithful witness is needed now more than ever,”
said Rev. Michael Kinnamon,
general secretary of the National Council
of Churches. “We cannot stand by while people of goodwill
are baselessly attacked for their faith, their political beliefs, or their
identity. We have no reason to fear or demonize those who are
different from ourselves. Today, tomorrow, and into this next
Congress, our country needs to come together and reclaim our values of
justice and equality.”
Church
World Service,
which annually sponsors CROP Hunger Walks in 2,000 communities across the
nation to raise funds to assist local and global hunger programs, urged the
President to help implement domestic and international policies to make sure
all families and children have access to nutritious, affordable food.
“We
are facing a severe global economic crisis, and the repercussions extend
beyond the borders of our country,” said
John McCullough,
president and CEO of
Church World Service. “As families in the
Leaders of major Christian
denominations joined NCC and CWS leaders to thank the President for his
leadership and to urge him to prioritize a number of issues, including
strengthening our fraying safety net, extending unemployment benefits as the
economy continues to falter, and lifting people out of poverty with a focus
on job creation for those in poverty, job training, and education.
“As voters go to the polls
tomorrow, they go with a sense of deep anxiety about their fragile economic
situations. It is absolutely crucial for our political leaders to
govern with a profound understanding of the hardships Americans are facing,”
said Rev. Michael Livingston,
director of the newly-launched NCC
Poverty Initiative. “More and more families are losing their
homes and struggling to make ends meet. As a faith community, we have
a moral obligation to speak out for the ‘least of these’ and urge Congress
and President Obama to make combating poverty and hunger a top priority.”
The delegation also raised
pressing issues around Middle East peace and the U.S.’s fraught relationship
with Cuba, urging the President to lift the travel ban from the U.S. to Cuba
so that American-based organizations like Church World Service can support
churches and communities in Cuba. Other issues raised included energy and
climate, and care for those hit first and worst by climate change, as well
as immigration reform.
The delegation also
included Bishop Johncy Itty of
Church World Service,
Bishop Mark Hanson of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America,
Bishop John R. Bryant of the
African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church,
Rev. Sharon Watkins of the
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ),
Bishop Thomas L. Hoyt, Jr. of
the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church,
Mr. Stanley J. Noffsinger of
the Church of the Brethren,
Archbishop Khajag S. Barsamian of
the Armenian Church of America,
Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori
of The Episcopal Church,
Archbishop Demetrios of the
Greek Orthodox Church of America,
Rev. Gradye Parsons of the
Presbyterian Church (USA),
Rev. Dr. Betsy Miller of the
Moravian Church,
Thomas Swain of the
Religious Society of Friends,
Rev. Wesley S. Granberg-Michaelson
of the Reformed Church in America,
Bishop Sharon Zimmerman Rader
of the United Methodist Church,
Metropolitan Jonah of the
Orthodox Church in America, Rev. Geoffrey Black of the
United Church of Christ, and
Dr.
Walter L. Parrish III of the
Progressive National Baptist
Convention. The delegation presented the President with a To schedule phone or in-person interviews with Michael Kinnamon, please contact Philip Jenks (National Council of Churches) at 646-853-4212 and to schedule interviews with John McCullough, please contact Lesley Crosson (Church World Service) at 212-870-2676. For other requests, please contact Kristin Williams (Faith in Public Life) at 202-459-8625. Since its founding in 1950, the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA has been the leading force for ecumenical cooperation among Christians in the United States. The NCC's 36 member faith groups -- from a wide spectrum of Protestant, Anglican, Orthodox, Evangelical, historic African American and Living Peace churches -- include 45 million persons in more than 100,000 local congregations in communities across the nation. NCC News contact: Philip E. Jenks, 212-870-2228 (office), 646-853-4212 (cell), pjenks@ncccusa.org |